New York Times Goes a Little Hollywood
Important Details: Did you just love British actress Emily Blunt in “The Devil Wears Prada”? Can’t wait to find out what Susan Sarandon’s next movie will be? Then, you may be interested in The New York Times’ recent purchase of Baseline Studio Systems. For consumers, the $35 million purchase will mean that the Times will be better able to give its readers the inside skinny on movie- and TV-making. Baseline info, added to the Times staff coverage, would be able to tell you that Blunt and Sarandon will begin shooting playwright David Auburn’s “The Girl in the Park” this fall in New York.
As a business move, the Times’ purchase is raising some eyebrows. The Fool’s coverage called it an “odd buy,” pointing out that the Times is paying $35 million for a $6 million annual revenue business. It also noted that the Times is a business-to-consumer (B2C) company and that Baseline’s business is mainly business-to-business (B2B), an odd fit.
Therein, though, may lie some smarts behind the deal, and a wider strategy. The lines between B2B and B2C are thinning. Take Baseline. It’s one of several providers of inside data to the entertainment industry. If you’re in the TV or movie business, you want to know everything that moves, when it moves – it’s the immediate, inside info that gives you a deal-making edge. Now, on the Web, consumers want the same info, to know, to blog about, and to gossip about. Different uses, same info. So the Times will use some of the Baseline info on nytimes.com, presumably contextual with its own and wire service journalism. And it will harvest, and try to grow, the syndication revenue streams that Baseline already has in place. (And it should be making moves through the New York Times Syndicate to sell to other publishers as well.)
It has competitors, of course. On the Web, there’s the Amazon-owned IMDb.com (Internet Movie Database), one of the greatest trivia tools ever invented. The Times says the subscription-only Baseline is far deeper and more timely. But IMDbpro.com, available for $12.95 a month, seems to have a lot of what Baseline offers, so as in all things Internet, the battle to create good-enough products with solid business models is ongoing.
The Times says its move will deepen its Hollywood relationships. Hollywood is a major advertising buyer in the pages of the Times, and its print/e-mail story toolbar is usually sponsored by a current release, now by “Little Miss Sunshine.”
In Outsell’s Opinion: Outsell likes the Times’ move from several perspectives. First, it shows that the Times understands that data is an important asset on the Internet, as compared to just-text stories. Second, it indicates that the Times is getting a better sense of the Stuff In/Stuff Out ethos we’ve written about – getting valuable non-Times material in front of its readers is smart. Third, it does push the Times closer into being an entertainment player. As all things video lead the way in search and advertising, the Times’ move to deepen its entertainment DNA and connections in Hollywood is a timely one.
We can see the Times and other publishers taking a look at such companies as Pollstar, which covers the music industry in ways parallel to Baseline. Similar services covering theater – on and off Broadway and throughout the U.S. and in London – would make sense for all the same reasons. Acquisitions – or just strategic partnerships – may be possible, to gain content and relationships.
It’s essential for all news publishers to grow their positions in arts, entertainment, and leisure activities. Outsell’s Go!(SM) conference Sept. 17-19 will include a session on what is in store for the news industry, featuring Tom Curley, CEO of The Associated Press. Outsell’s “Future of News” report (Feb. 24, 2006) showed that Americans still rely on newspapers in print for information on entertainment activities, movie reviews, restaurant dining, and family events, but that their online sites badly lag behind both the print papers and Google, Yahoo!, and MSN sites for such information. The Baseline purchase is one step in the right direction.
Implications: